Investigating the impact of combining handwritten signature and keyboard keystroke dynamics for gender prediction

© 2019 IEEE. The use of soft-biometric data as an auxiliary tool on user identification is already well known. Gender, handorientation and emotional state are some examples which can be called soft-biometrics. These soft-biometric data can be predicted directly from the biometric templates. It is very common to find researches using physiological modalities for soft-biometric prediction, but behavioural biometric is often not well explored for this context. Among the behavioural biometric modalities, keystroke dynamics and handwriting signature have been widely explored for user identification, including some soft-biometric predictions. However, in these modalities, the soft-biometric prediction is usually done in an individual way. In order to fill this space, this study aims to investigate whether the combination of those two biometric modalities can impact the performance of a soft-biometric data, gender prediction. The main aim is to assess the impact of combining data from two different biometric sources in gender prediction. Our findings indicated gains in terms of performance for gender prediction when combining these two biometric modalities, when compared to the individual ones

Rapid tranquillisation for agitated patients in emergency psychiatric rooms: a randomised trial of midazolam versus haloperidol plus promethazine

OBJECTIVE: To compare two widely used drug treatments for people with aggression or agitation due to mental illness. DESIGN: Pragmatic, randomised clinical trial. SETTING: Three psychiatric emergency rooms in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. SUBJECTS: 301 aggressive or agitated people. INTERVENTIONS: Open treatment with intramuscular midazolam or intramuscular haloperidol plus promethazine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients tranquil or sedated at 20 minutes. Secondary outcomes: patients tranquil or asleep by 40, 60, and 120 minutes; restrained or given extra drugs within 2 hours; severe adverse events; another episode of agitation or aggression; needing extra visits from doctor during first 24 hours; overall antipsychotic load in first 24 hours; and not discharged by two weeks

Preliminary study of the effects of global warming upon the flowering of the olive tree

Simpósio Nacional de Olivicultura, 5º, Santarém, 24-26 de Setembro, 2009Phenological development of the olive tree is important for studying its adaptability, for management and simulation of growth and yield of olive orchards. Nevertheless, most studies that predict the date of flowering of the olive do not consider its chilling requirements, that are low, but may not be satisfied in some years, under mild climates or when global warming takes effect. In a previous study De Melo-Abreu et al. (2004) a model designed to predict the date of flowering was presented along with appropriate parameters for some cultivars. It is a two phase model. In the first phase, chilling accumulation takes place using a four parameter sub-model for determination of chilling units. In the second phase, known as the forcing phase, that starts after chilling requirements were attained and bud-break was due to occur, temperature sum above a base temperature is used to simulate development. Furthermore, it was established that all the parameters for the chilling accumulation, except the required chilling units, are conservative for all cultivars that were studied. A custom-tailored algorithm was constructed for the determination of the total sum of chilling units for bud-break and for the temperature sum necessary for the forcing phase. The resulting calibrated model is used for the prediction of the impact of global warming in the dates of flowering of the olive trees ‘Arbequina’, ‘Gordal’, ‘Hojiblanca’, ‘Manzanilla’, ‘Moraiolo’, ‘Picual’ and ‘Verdial’ for the four locations that are representative of the main olive producing regions in Portugal. The present climate is represented by a series of 19 and 30 years of maximum and minimum daily temperatures (Cen0). Three scenarios of climate change were considered. Cen1, Cen2 and Cen3 correspond, respectively, to increases of 1°C, 2°C and 3°C to both maximum and minimum temperaturesIn Vila Real, projections indicate successive advances in the date of flowering, from 11 to 12 days in Cen1 until 33 to 37 days in Cen3. In Castelo Branco, the projections indicate advances of flowering date from 11 to 13 days in Cen1 until 23 to 36 days in Cen3. In both locations, no faulty of abnormal flowering were anticipated. In Beja, the o projections indicate that advances in the date of flowering for Cen1 and Cen2 are modest, that ‘Moraiolo’ has a single event of faulty or abnormal flowering in Cen2 and that all cultivars that were studied have years with faulty or abnormal flowerings in Cen3. In Faro, important delays in the date of flowering were anticipated in all scenarios, and in many years flowering is absent or abnormal. In Cen3, the projections indicate that flowering is likely to be absent or abnormal in almost all years. The results that were obtained are an indication that may help the farmer to include or reject cultivars in future olive orchards

Universal light quark mass dependence and heavy-light meson spectroscopy

Clean predictions are presented for all the spin-averaged heavy-light meson spectroscopies. A new symmetry is identified wherein the energy eigenstates have a universal dependence on both the light and heavy quark masses. This universality is used in an efficient analysis of these mesons within the QCD string/flux tube picture. Unique predictions for all the D, D_s, B, and B_s type mesons in terms of just four measured quantities.Comment: REVTeX4, 6 pages, 9 eps figure

Increased BDNF levels and NTRK2 gene association suggest a disruption of BDNF/TrkB signaling in autism

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin fundamental for brain development and function, has previously been implicated in autism. In this study, the levels of BDNF in platelet-rich plasma were compared between autistic and control children, and the role of two genetic factors that might regulate this neurotrophin and contribute to autism etiology, BDNF and NTRK2, was examined. We found that BDNF levels in autistic children (n = 146) were significantly higher (t = 6.82; P < 0.0001) than in control children (n = 50) and were positively correlated with platelet serotonin distribution (r = 0.22; P = 0.004). Heritability of BDNF was estimated at 30% and therefore candidate genes BDNF and NTRK2 were tested for association with BDNF level distribution in this sample, and with autism in 469 trio families. Genetic association analysis provided no evidence for BDNF or NTRK2 as major determinants of the abnormally increased BDNF levels in autistic children. A significant association with autism was uncovered for six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) [0.004 (Z((1df)) = 2.85) < P < 0.039 (Z((1df)) = 2.06)] and multiple haplotypes [5 × 10(-4) (χ((3df)) = 17.77) < P < 0.042 (χ((9df)) = 17.450)] in the NTRK2 gene. These results do not withstand correction for multiple comparisons, however, reflect a trend toward association that supports a role of NTRK2 as a susceptibility factor for the disorder. Genetic variation in the BDNF gene had no impact on autism risk. By substantiating the previously observed increase in BDNF levels in autistic children in a larger patient set, and suggesting a genetic association between NTRK2 and autism, this study integrates evidence from multiple levels supporting the hypothesis that alterations in BDNF/tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) signaling contribute to an increased vulnerability to autism

Estimate of the Collins fragmentation function in a chiral invariant approach

We predict the features of the Collins function, which describes the fragmentation of a transversely polarized quark into an unpolarized hadron, by modeling the fragmentation process at a low energy scale. We use the chiral invariant approach of Manohar and Georgi, where constituent quarks and Goldstone bosons are considered as effective degrees of freedom in the non-perturbative regime of QCD. To test the approach we calculate the unpolarized fragmentation function and the transverse momentum distribution of a produced hadron, both of which are described reasonably well. In the case of semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, our estimate of the Collins function in connection with the transversity distribution gives rise to a transverse single spin asymmetry of the order of 10%, supporting the idea of measuring the transversity distribution of the nucleon in this way. In the case of e+ e- annihilation into two hadrons, our model predicts a Collins azimuthal asymmetry of about 5%.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures. Figs. 11-14 changed, minor changes in discussion, few typos fixed and some references added. Final version to appear in PR

Simulation of the dates of dormancy and flowering in olive, in the region of Elvas, using the model FlowerCalc. Preliminary results

We conducted a study of the phenology of four cultivars of Olea europaea L. ('Arbequina', 'Cobrançosa', 'Galega Vulgar' and 'Picual') based on observations of phenological stages, flowering times and modeling the flowering dates, using as reference an olive grove in Elvas. We conducted a modeling study of flowering dates following the model of De Melo Abreu et al. (2004). In the year 2011 the floral initiation of the cultivars occurred according the following order: ‘Arbequina’, ‘Galega’, ‘Picual’ and ‘Cobrançosa’. The FlowerCalc© model used on this study has proven to be adequate in predicting the flowering period as well as the chilling and heating requirements of the cultivars studied. The model efficiency is low (EM=0.31), although the error rate is reduced (0 days in ‘Arbequina’ to 5 days in ‘Picual’)

Performance And Economic Analysis Of Finished Lambs In Feedlot

This study aimed to evaluate animal performance and economic performance of feedlot crossbred lambs (Santa Inês+ - Suffolk) fed different diets based on hay from Cynodon dactylon genotypes, through the use of financial measures considering only the period of feedlot, without relating it to the complete management cycle. A total of 30 intact crossbred Suffolk lambs, identified with earrings, with an average age of 90 days and an average body weight of 21.5 kg were used in this study. Diets were formulated using as treatments a standard concentrate and hay of the Cynodon dactylon genotypes Jiggs, Vaquero, Tifton 68, Coast-Cross, Tifton 85 and Russell in a 60:40 forage-to-concentrate ratio. The treatments were distributed in a randomized complete block design with five replicates. There were significant differences between diets in terms of total expenditure on food, and the highest values were obtained for the Jiggs genotype (BRL 48.96/animal). The animals fed diets based on Tifton 68 hay had a higher rate of return (2.16%) and profitability (34.63%) compared to the other diets. The use of diets based on Tifton 68 hay for feedlot lambs in the finishing phase brings higher economic returns compared to the remaining diets.37129330